I'm sure that title left you scratching your heads and wondering "what on earth?" We just moved into our new house. The people that lived here before us were in the same line of work as we are. They had 3 small children, spread apart about like my 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. Before we moved into this house, we spent a couple days cleaning up and reorganizing things to get ready for our move. As I swept up cheerios from the floor and found sippy cups under the table and toy cars and puzzle pieces behind the beds, I unexpectedly began to cry! At first I couldn't understand why I was so overcome with sadness; sadness that lasted much of the day as I cleaned away all the little fingerprints from the cupboards and erased the crayon marks on the walls. My mind wandered back many years in time. I remembered all the dozens of times we moved with our 3 young children, leaving behind toys & pets & friends. I'm sure there were people who cleaned up cheerios & sippy cups belonging to my children. I thought long and hard about the cost of following this Call. It is not an easy life, in a lot of ways. Many times I have felt like giving it up, especially as my children got older and now an ocean separates us. When they were young, it didn't seem to matter how much we moved as long as they had Mom & Dad close by. Living in a part of the world where spiritual fruit comes very slowly and sometimes at great cost, we don't even have that to keep us going. Although there are sacrifices in this life (what life doesn't have sacrifice??) I have seen over & over that the sacrifice is worth it. I certainly don't want to dwell on the sacrifices because that would be defeating! There are so many promises that are bright & hopeful and I choose to dwell on those. "My strength is made perfect in weakness", "those that sow in tears will come forth rejoicing", "nothing is impossible with God" and "He will keep us in perfect peace if our minds are fixed on him" are just a few! So, all in all, I love my life and couldn't imagine doing anything else, but the cheerios & sippy cups got me thinking & evaluating & reminiscing...
Friday, March 4, 2011
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4 comments:
Ah, the chapters of life! It's exciting to that children might be part of your life again very soon.
thanks for being real! We pray for you often.
Read your cheerios and sippy cup blog. . . and for some reason sensed a nudging. . . I think God wanted you remembering those days b/c of the new work you'll be establishing. How precious those days are, how urgent the need is, how impressionable the families are in that stage. He wants you to remember, reminesce, even get nostalgic . . . because he has a plan for you where you are. He just doesn't want you to get stuck in the remembering - those tears are water for the seed that he's planted in your heart. Water profusely, soak in the Son, and watch the miracle of new life grow and bloom. Love you friend. Lifting you up as you begin again, jo.
I agree with anonymous :)There is a plan for your nostalgia. Thanks for sharing your heart. This touched me and caused me to reflect on my own ministry. Sacrifices are never easy or they wouldn't be sacrifices (I know that's self-evident, but I'm dense!). You remended me of what is truly important and that God will never ask me to give up something for Him that He won't replace with something better.
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